Unexpected Heart Aches
by ruby slippers12
Summary: When Donna gets in an accident, tragedy follows, leaving a newly formed family broken in pieces.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Okay, this has been floating around in my head this whole week and I finally decided to type it up. These first two chapters are short, I just haven't had enought time to type up the rest so if you're patient I'll have others up tomorrow. I'll add the rest of A Few Messed Up Ideas soon, I just have to type it all up and proof-read it. And as always, I obviously don't own West Wing characters, but I'll accept donations…

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Unexpected Heart Aches

"Okay, Donna I got to go, the meeting's about to start. I'll call you when I'm done 'cause there's barely any service and you'll probably get voice-mail. I'll see you later okay?"

"Yeah, go to your meeting, I've got to get off the cell because there's a cop up here at the light, and the last thing I need is a ticket. I'll see you later, I love you."

"I love you too, bye."

Donna came to the red light at the intersection and stopped at the white line. As she waited for the light to change to green, she put her cell phone away in her purse and searched for a piece of the gum she kept stashed in the pouch on the side. As she looked up at the light to see if it had changed yet, she caught a glimpse of the car that was heading straight towards her stopped car.


	2. Chapter 2

Josh walked out of the building and tried to listen to the messages that had piled-up during his meeting. Apparently there wasn't even enough reception there for his phone to even ring, so everyone who had called had gone straight to his voice-mail. Out of the four messages, two of them were from his new assistant Linda, who had taken over for Donna when her doctor suggested she go on bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy. The third message was unclear, he couldn't understand what was being said with all the chaos going on in the background, but he could've sworn he had heard sirens. The last message was from an unfamiliar and urgent sounding voice.

"Mr. Lyman, this is Greg Adams at George Washington University Hospital. Your wife was in a car accident and is now in critical condition. We tried to get hold of you earlier, but we had to perform an emergency c-section on your wife. If you could either call the hospital or come in as soon possible, I'm sure your wife would greatly appreciate it."

The message finished and a stunned Josh stood next to his parked car with his keys in his hand. Donna was in a car accident, and was now in critical condition in the hospital. What worried him even more was the fact that they had performed a c-section. Donna was only about seven months pregnant, and though he still wasn't an expert, wasn't seven months too early for the baby to survive? Before he had realized it, he was in his car speeding towards the hospital.


	3. Chapter 3

Once Josh got to the hospital, he tried to calm down a little bit as he walked from the parking lot to the front desk. In all honesty, he tried his hardest to avoid G.W. at all costs, but now was being forced back to a place that brought back horrible memories and might make worse ones now too. He walked up to the nurse at the desk, only to find out that Donna was still in surgery on the fourth floor and he was to wait in the waiting room upstairs. When he finally found the waiting room he was looking for, he found that he was the only one there and Dr. Adams would come out as soon as the surgery was over. As the minutes dragged on into an hour, he was forced to realize that this was what it must've been like for Donna when he had been shot. The only difference was that this time it wasn't his life hanging in the balance, it was his wife's life and their new born baby's life. After what seemed a lifetime, a tall graying man who Josh could only assume was Dr. Adams walked over.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Adams, I left the voice-mail on your cellphone earlier. I'm gathering you haven't been told much have you?" He couldn't trust himself to form a sentence right now. He shook his head, wanting to know what was going on.

"Your wife was brought in about two hours ago. Apparently what had happend was a drunk driver had driven head on into her stopped car." As soon as the doctor said drunk driver, all he could think about was how Mrs. Landingham had been killed by a drunk driver almost four years ago, and he felt tears accumulate in his eyes.

"Because of the impact, your wife suffered head wounds like a severe concussion and a broken nose, but she also suffered from impact from the steering wheel at her abdomen. Because of that wound, she now has broken ribs and she suffered from internal bleeding. From both the impact and the bleeding, we thought it was best to have an emergency c-section so that we could stop the internal bleeding, and make sure that the baby could survive if your wife didn't. Luckily Donna pulled through and is now in the recovery room, but she is still unconscious." He felt a few tears trickle down his face as the doctor told him that Donna was in fact going to be fine, and the injuries were no longer considered critical.

"What about the baby?" Josh spoke for the first time, his voice coming out raspy and harsh sounding.

"Mr. Lyman you might want to sit down for a moment while I tell you this," Josh sat down in the seat behind him, preparing himself for the absolute worst. "We had to perform the c-section to try and give both Donna and the baby a chance of survival. Your wife as I told you will pull through this. The baby on the other hand has been given a hard start. The baby was delivered around three fifteen, but she weighed only about four and a half pounds, but she wasn't breathing. She may have some brain damage but it is really too soon to know anything. Your daughter is now in the N.I.C.U. and is in an incubator to bring up her temperature which was low and she's also on a respirator for her breathing problems. I have to tell you this, because you need to know before you go visit your wife. Your daughter has very slim chances of surviving and leaving the N.I.C.U., because of the accident and the respitory problems, it's doubtful that she'll live to see next week." The doctor stopped talking and watched Josh, trying to gage his reaction, but he just sat there feeling like he had been punched in the stomach, letting the tears finally fall.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Okay, so even though the story is obviously a.u., I'm gonna have it take place around late season five, early season six. Donna didn't go to Gaza, and they got married around season four. I really hope that made some sense. Also, if the type is in italics its gonna mean it's a memory. Oh yeah, reviews make my day so click that button and let me know how you think the story is going….

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When Josh was finally able to completely pull himself together, he made his way to Donna's room. Dr. Adams had told him that she would still be unconscious for a little while longer, but there was no reason why he couldn't go visit now. As he sat in the really uncomfortable chair next to the bed, he realized how hospitals never changed, they always were a sterile white color and had the smell of rubbing alcohol. It wasn't like he just hung around hospitals, it's just when you're stuck in a recovery room for almost a month, you start to realize things. 

Hadn't life thrown enough curveballs at him and Donna already? When they had finally noticed that you really can't keep denying love for another four years, they get told that they can't be together because it could look bad for the re-election campaign. When they had gotten engaged around Christmas time last year, they couldn't really tell anyone until the wedding invitations were in the mail.

_"Josh!" C.J. screamed through the bullpen. _

_"Josh, I swear to god you better open up your door and talk to me while I'm still reasonably calm." She was calm! He already knew she was coming to yell at him for not telling her sooner about the engagement, but it wasn't like anyone else knew either, he had just gotten off the phone with his mom about the invitation she had gotten today. _

_"You're still reasonably calm?" He said as he swung his door open to come eye to eye with his friend. _

_"Yes, calm is something I still am. How many times do I have to tell the people in this wing that** I **am your first call about **anything**!" She walked into his office and just sat on his desk, papers and all. _

_"Well, technically you were the first call, you got your invitation yesterday, while everyone else got their's today." They had actually planned this out a little bit, they had decided to invite Danny, and since he might have asked questions when he got his invitation, they gave C.J. her's so she knew before the questions were asked._

_"C.J. please tell me you're not really pissed at us about this, because in all honesty, I really haven't been happier. And I don't think Donna's too miserable either."_

_"Idiot boy, contrary to the popular belief, I'm not a cold hearted bitch. I'm really happy that you guys finally got a clue, but you really should've told me once you guys got together." She looked less pissed and a smile had appeared on her face and she pulled him into a congratulatory hug._

Soon after they had gotten married though, Donna found out she was pregnant. When the news had gotten out, the media went crazy thinking it was a shotgun wedding because in all truth, they hadn't really known they were together. But because of the whole boss/assistant relationship, the little congratulations blurbs turned into columns wondering if he had been using her and she had puposely gotten pregnant to get him to marry her. Obviously, none of those scenarios had been close to the truth.

_"Josh? I've really got to tell you something." She had started off as she walked into his office and closed the door behind her. Actually the way she was acting was starting to freak him out a little bit._

_"Honey are you okay?" He got up from the computer and moved over to where Donna was leaning on the other side of his desk._

_"Yeah, I'm fine, everything's good it's just... I found out about something and...just let me talk for a minute and don't interupt 'til I'm done okay?" He nodded his head, really wanting to figure out what was causing Donna to act so freaked like this. "Okay, so I went to the doctor's today to see if I had the stomach bug 'cause I hadn't been feeling good..."_

_"Right, how did that go?"_

_"Josh, no interupting remember? So I went to the doctor and she told me that I didn't have the stomach bug, but it turns out that I'm pregnant." She rushed the last few words trying to get them all out in one breath. She stood there as she watched him as he went through practically every emotion on his face until he finished on what she could only guess was shock. "Josh you can say something now, and it would be appreciated if it was said really soon because I'm kind of already freaking out and I need to know if you are too."_

_"Come here." He held out his arms, beckoning for her to settle into his embrace. "This is...wow."_

_"Josh, this is bad, I mean we just got married. We literally just got back from the honeymoon last week. People are going to jump to conclusions and they're not going to be good ones." She leaned her head on his shoulder, and he could feel a few of her tears soak into his shirt._

_"Hey, don't worry about that now." He lifted her face up so she could see him. "If it does happen, we'll deal with it then. Now we get to be happy because we're gonna be parents one day soon."_

As he sat there remembering that day, he realized that the day they had been waiting for had arrived, they were officially parents now. As he watched Donna breathe in and out for a few minutes, he decided that he was going to go upstairs and go meet their little girl and tell her that just like her mommy, she was going to be tough and survive._  
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	5. Chapter 5

Hey guys! I'm so sorry that I've pretty much neglected this site all summer, but I'm back again. It's better late than never right? I hope this is worth the wait, and I'll try to upload another chapter by Monday. Tell me what you think, I tried a different thing: the whole past events/memories thing. Just so ya know, the huge part in italics, that is a past memory. And if there are any mistakes, they're all mine.

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Nothing could've prepared Josh for when he walked into the hospital room. The small white room made Donna look even paler then ever and the beeping monitors reminded him of his own brush with death. As he pulled the visitor's chair next to the bed, he noticed the cuts all over her face, which were cleaned and almost invisible from a distance. The steady rhythm of her heartbeat lulled Josh into a daze as he waited for Donna to wake-up.

_"Hey, you're home! I thought you had a meeting." Donna said as she shut the door and put her keys on the table next to it._

"_Well, I decided to surprise you as part of your anniversary gift." She heard him say from the kitchen. As she walked in, Josh was putting the finishing touches on two plates of food that looked delicious. "Mhm…looks good." She turned to the cabinet with the glasses and poured water into two of them. _

"_It should be good, it's your favorite from Delano's." She had smile, he'd gotten the chicken fettuccini dish which she had ordered on their first official date. _

"_Your super powers of ordering food amazes me still." She walked toward the table with the glasses of water and now noticed the bouquet of vibrant, exotic flowers. _

"_Oh these are beautiful, thank you." _

"_I thought so too, I thought they were better than the usual bouquet of roses." She took one of the plates and before going to the table gave Josh a quick, but tender kiss._

"_Happy anniversary."_

"_Happy anniversary to you too." And with that they started eating._

_After they had cleaned up the dishes, they sat down on the sofa, each with a small wrapped gift. Josh handed Donna her gift first, and when she opened it she found a delicate silver chain with a diamond circle pendent._

"_I love it! Could you do me the favor of putting it on for me?" As he reached for the box, she lifted the hair off her neck and held it up as he fastened the clasp. When she let her hair back down, she turned to him and gave him a kiss just as tender as before, but let her lips linger on his for a little longer._

"_This is an amazing necklace, you didn't have to get me something like this, dinner would've been enough."_

"_I know, but I knew you would like it."_

"_Thank you. Now, my gift may not seem like much, but I have a gut feeling that it will trump yours."_

"_Really what makes you think that?"_

"_I like to call it woman's intuition, so now I have to know if I'm right or not." She handed him the gift and waited for him to open it._

"_Maybe I'll wait for a little while now that I know that secret."_

"_Yeah, but you wouldn't do it."_

"_Really…and you know that how?"_

"_Because you're just as competitive as I am and its killing me so it must be making you crazy. So just open it and find out." She watched carefully as Josh slowly ripped the wrapping paper getting to the outside of the white box. For someone who was so unorganized, he unwrapped a gift with such precision. When he opened the box, she watched his face go from confused, to shocked, to disbelief, and finally to ecstatic in a matter of a few seconds. He had taken the little yellow jumper and a bib that had 'I love my daddy' written on it and was now holding them in his lap._

"_Really?" He whispered, almost inaudibly._

"_Yep," she paused for a second wiping a tear from under her eye. "I told you my gift would beat yours." She said as she gave out a little nervous giggle. He motioned for her to move even closer, wrapping his arms around her and just held onto her._

"_You were right." He whispered into her hair, "This couldn't be beaten by anything."_

For some reason that one moment kept replaying through his mind for the whole time he was sitting there. He remembered that feeling of pure joy and now realized that their baby may never get the chance to wear that little jumper and bib. He felt tears form in his eyes, but before one had the chance to fall, he felt Donna's hand grasp onto his hand as hard as he was holding hers. He looked up to see her awake, and wiped the tears from his eyes before continuing.

"Hey, you're up…do need me to get a nurse? They said you might be in pain when you woke up." She shook her head no and looked at him helplessly.

"Do you remember what happened?" Again she shook her head no, and he realized that it was his job to tell Donna that the baby they had been waiting for may be gone before they had the chance to meet her.


End file.
